Description

Located in the McKinley Park Community Area, adjacent to Brighton Park and Back of the Yards, McKinley Park totals [69.28] acres and features 2 gymnasiums, a gymnastics center, a kitchen, auditorium and meeting rooms. Outside, the park offers a swimming pool, artificial turf soccer field, baseball fields, basketball courts, athletic field for football or soccer, seasonal ice skating rink, playground and interactive water spray feature.

Many of these spaces are available for rental. Park-goers can play seasonal sports or go ice skating in the winter at the facility. After school programs are offered throughout the school year, and in the summer youth attend the Park District’s popular six-week day camp.

In addition to programs, McKinley Park hosts fun special events throughout the year for the whole family, such as Halloween events and Movies in the Park.

History

In October of 1901, one month after the assassination of William McKinley, 25th President of the United States, the South Park Commission (SPC) officially named a new and still undeveloped park in his honor. Experimental in its location and intent, this park proved to be nationally important. At the time, Chicago's existing parks were far away from the filthy, noisy, overcrowded tenement neighborhoods in the center of the city. Superintendent J. Frank Foster envisioned a new type of park that would provide social services as well as breathing spaces in these areas. To test the idea, in 1901 the park commission began acquiring property near the Union Stockyards. Composed of open prairie and cabbage patches, the site had previously been the Brighton Park Race Track. The experimental McKinley Park originally offered ballfields, lawn tennis, swimming and wadinglagoon, and a lovely classically-designed bathhouse. More than 10,000 people attended the park's dedication on June 13, 1902. The effort was so successful that the following year the South Park Commission began creating a whole system of new neighborhood parks for the south side. Opened to the public in 1905, the first ten were: Sherman, Ogden, Palmer, Bessemer, and Hamilton Parks, and Mark White, Russell, Davis, Armour, and Cornell Squares. These innovative neighborhood parks influenced the development of other parks throughout the United States. McKinley Park received such intensive use, that in 1906, the SPC acquired adjacent property, doubling its acreage. The designers expanded the existing wading pool into a large naturalistic lagoon with several small wooded islands. They also introduced a children’s playground, a music court plaza, open-air gymnasiums, and the following decade, a field house.

Summer Programs

See our offerings in the Summer tab below. The standard 6-week day camp runs June 29 - August 7. Specialty camp dates vary. Most other programs start the week of June 15 and run through the week of August 17. Registration is on-going while spots are available.

Fall Programs

Fall programs start the week of September 14 and run through the week of November 30.
View programs online beginning Monday, July 20. Registration dates for our park are:

Online registration begins on Tuesday, August 4, 2015 at 9:00am.

In-person registration begins on Saturday, August 8, 2015.

Click on the program name links below for program descriptions, availability information and to register online now (if available).

2015/06/12 18:30From June 12, 2015 to August 23, 2015Each Sunday from 1:30pm to 2:45pmEach Sunday from 6pm to 7:15pmEach Monday from 6:15pm to 7:15pmEach Monday from 4pm to 4:45pmEach Tuesday from 4pm to 4:45pmEach Tuesday from 6:15pm to 7:15pmEach Wednesday from 6:15pm to 7:15pmEach Wednesday from 4pm to 4:45pmEach Thursday from 4pm to 4:45pmEach Thursday from 6:15pm to 7:15pmEach Friday from 4pm to 4:45pmEach Friday from 6:15pm to 7:15pmEach Saturday from 1:30pm to 2:45pmEach Saturday from 6pm to 7:15pm Except the following dates: Friday, July 3, 2015 Friday, July 3, 2015 Saturday, July 4, 2015 Saturday, July 4, 2015

2015/06/12 21:30From June 12, 2015 to August 23, 2015Each Sunday from 4:30pm to 5:45pmEach Monday from 3pm to 3:45pmEach Tuesday from 3pm to 3:45pmEach Wednesday from 3pm to 3:45pmEach Thursday from 3pm to 3:45pmEach Friday from 3pm to 3:45pmEach Saturday from 4:30pm to 5:45pm Except the following dates: Friday, July 3, 2015 Saturday, July 4, 2015

2015/06/12 20:00From June 12, 2015 to August 23, 2015Each Sunday from 3pm to 4:15pmEach Monday from 2pm to 2:45pmEach Tuesday from 2pm to 2:45pmEach Wednesday from 2pm to 2:45pmEach Thursday from 2pm to 2:45pmEach Friday from 2pm to 2:45pmEach Saturday from 3pm to 4:15pm Except the following dates: Friday, July 3, 2015 Saturday, July 4, 2015

2015/08/24 23:00From August 24, 2015 to September 7, 2015Each Sunday from 1:30pm to 2:45pmEach Sunday from 6pm to 7:15pmEach Monday from 6:15pm to 7:15pmEach Monday from 4pm to 4:45pmEach Tuesday from 4pm to 4:45pmEach Tuesday from 6:15pm to 7:15pmEach Wednesday from 6:15pm to 7:15pmEach Wednesday from 4pm to 4:45pmEach Thursday from 4pm to 4:45pmEach Thursday from 6:15pm to 7:15pmEach Friday from 4pm to 4:45pmEach Friday from 6:15pm to 7:15pmEach Saturday from 1:30pm to 2:45pmEach Saturday from 6pm to 7:15pm Except the following dates: Monday, September 7, 2015 Monday, September 7, 2015

2015/08/24 21:30From August 24, 2015 to September 7, 2015Each Sunday from 4:30pm to 5:45pmEach Monday from 3pm to 3:45pmEach Tuesday from 3pm to 3:45pmEach Wednesday from 3pm to 3:45pmEach Thursday from 3pm to 3:45pmEach Friday from 3pm to 3:45pmEach Saturday from 4:30pm to 5:45pm Except the following dates: Monday, September 7, 2015

2015/08/24 20:00From August 24, 2015 to September 7, 2015Each Sunday from 3pm to 4:15pmEach Monday from 2pm to 2:45pmEach Tuesday from 2pm to 2:45pmEach Wednesday from 2pm to 2:45pmEach Thursday from 2pm to 2:45pmEach Friday from 2pm to 2:45pmEach Saturday from 3pm to 4:15pm Except the following dates: Monday, September 7, 2015

2015/08/10 16:00From August 10, 2015 to September 7, 2015Each Monday from 11am to 1:45pmEach Tuesday from 11am to 1:45pmEach Wednesday from 11am to 1:45pmEach Thursday from 11am to 1:45pmEach Friday from 11am to 1:45pm Except the following dates: Monday, September 7, 2015

2015/06/12 22:00From June 12, 2015 to September 7, 2015Each Monday from 5pm to 6pmEach Tuesday from 5pm to 6pmEach Wednesday from 5pm to 6pmEach Thursday from 5pm to 6pmEach Friday from 5pm to 6pm Except the following dates: Friday, July 3, 2015

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Description

Located in the McKinley Park Community Area, adjacent to Brighton Park and Back of the Yards, McKinley Park totals [69.28] acres and features 2 gymnasiums, a gymnastics center, a kitchen, auditorium and meeting rooms. Outside, the park offers a swimming pool, artificial turf soccer field, baseball fields, basketball courts, athletic field for football or soccer, seasonal ice skating rink, playground and interactive water spray feature.

Many of these spaces are available for rental. Park-goers can play seasonal sports or go ice skating in the winter at the facility. After school programs are offered throughout the school year, and in the summer youth attend the Park District’s popular six-week day camp.

In addition to programs, McKinley Park hosts fun special events throughout the year for the whole family, such as Halloween events and Movies in the Park.

In October of 1901, one month after the assassination of William McKinley, 25th President of the United States, the South Park Commission (SPC) officially named a new and still undeveloped park in his honor. Experimental in its location and intent, this park proved to be nationally important. At the time, Chicago's existing parks were far away from the filthy, noisy, overcrowded tenement neighborhoods in the center of the city. Superintendent J. Frank Foster envisioned a new type of park that would provide social services as well as breathing spaces in these areas. To test the idea, in 1901 the park commission began acquiring property near the Union Stockyards. Composed of open prairie and cabbage patches, the site had previously been the Brighton Park Race Track. The experimental McKinley Park originally offered ballfields, lawn tennis, swimming and wadinglagoon, and a lovely classically-designed bathhouse. More than 10,000 people attended the park's dedication on June 13, 1902. The effort was so successful that the following year the South Park Commission began creating a whole system of new neighborhood parks for the south side. Opened to the public in 1905, the first ten were: Sherman, Ogden, Palmer, Bessemer, and Hamilton Parks, and Mark White, Russell, Davis, Armour, and Cornell Squares. These innovative neighborhood parks influenced the development of other parks throughout the United States. McKinley Park received such intensive use, that in 1906, the SPC acquired adjacent property, doubling its acreage. The designers expanded the existing wading pool into a large naturalistic lagoon with several small wooded islands. They also introduced a children’s playground, a music court plaza, open-air gymnasiums, and the following decade, a field house.

The Chicago Park District is the largest municipal park manager in the nation and owner of more than 8,100 acres of green space. We invite you to take in a concert or a movie at one of our 580 parks, to expand your horizons by registering for one of our thousands of programs offered throughout our 260 field houses, to get a great workout indoors at one of our state-of-the-art fitness centers, or outdoors along Lake Michigan’s 26 miles of pristine lakefront, or enjoy nature with a peaceful visit.